


Unwinding Murphy’s Law

by EmeraldButterfly



Category: Milo Murphy's Law, Unwind Dystology - Neal Shusterman
Genre: Crossover, Unwind AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2020-10-11 00:54:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 14,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20537489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldButterfly/pseuds/EmeraldButterfly
Summary: Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. In a world where kids can be sent away for unwinding, this is even more true. Milo is sure his parents never signed the order, but can he make it out of this in one piece?





	1. What Can Go Wrong...

It was a beautiful fall morning in Danville, and Milo Murphy was late for school. Granted,it wasn’t really his fault;after all,he couldn’t help that a tree had crashed through the window in the night,shattering his alarm clock. He had no way to know that he would start sleepwalking, so naturally he was a bit startled to wake up outside next to an abandoned chicken coop instead of in his bedroom. To make matters worse, his usual shortcut was blocked off by a llama stampede after a pistachio truck had been suddenly overturned nearby.  
But even though it wasn’t Milo’s fault, that still didn’t change the fact that he darted through the school doors three minutes after the bell rang.  
Dodging a falling light fixture, Milo ran into his first period class and sat down at the nearest empty desk. He just hoped that he hadn’t missed anything important.

Of course, if he had known what would happen that day, he probably wouldn’t have been so eager to get to school.

Milo was excited when he realized that he was sitting right behind Melissa and Zack, his best friends. “Hi Melissa! Hi Zack!“  
Melissa turned around in her seat.  
“Hey, Milo.Where were you?”  
“Well, actually I—Diogee! What are you doing here, boy?”  
Milo’s dog was sitting on top of the desk next to him, trying frantically to get his attention.  
“He actually got here before you did.” commented Zack as he rubbed the dog’s ears. “He  
seems really worried about something. I think he’s been looking for you.”  
Milo just smiled. “Well, there’s no reason to worry. You can go home now, Diogee.“  
To everyone’s surprise, the dog stayed put.  
“Diogee, you know you’re not supposed to be at school. Go home. “  
Diogee refused to leave. Instead,he jumped up and down and growled in the direction of the window.  
Milo,Zack and Melissa got up to see what exactly had Diogee so upset.This was the first time he had ever refused to go home.  
The trio looked out the window, half expecting to see Pistachions or something equally disastrous, but(aside from the meteorite that had crashed into a fire hydrant,causing it to spray water everywhere) nothing really seemed that out of the ordinary,at least at a glance.  
It was Melissa who first noticed the police car.  
She pointed out the window at the car. “Do you think-“  
She never got to finish her sentence.  
Two police officers burst through the door and approached the teacher. They asked her something that the kids couldn’t quite make out and then handed her a document. Upon reading it, Mrs. Murawski went pale and just sat there staring at the paper in her hands.  
One of the policemen—Officer Cole, according to his name badge—continued talking to the teacher while the other one approached Milo.  
“Verbally confirm that you are Milo Danger Murphy.”  
Milo looked at the man nervously. “That’s me, although actually my middle name is pronounced—“  
He stopped short as Officer Cole quickly handcuffed him.  
“Unwind, by the signing of this order, your parents and/or legal guardians have retroactively - hey!”  
Diogee came running, shoving the officers away from Milo with all of his might. He was a small dog, but he was determined to protect Milo.  
Milo picked up Diogee and stroked him. He could feel a heartbeat racing, but he wasn’t sure if it was Diogee’s or his own.  
Zack stepped forward. “There has to be some kind of a mistake.”  
“Yeah, no kidding.” Melissa interjected. “Milo’s parents would never do this to him!“  
The Juvey-cops ignored them. “Because of the order, you are hereby remanded to the State Juvenile Authority for summary division, also known as unwinding.”  
Amanda tried to call Mr. and Mrs. Murphy so that they could say that they had never signed the order, but the phone suddenly lost the connection.  
Milo turned to his friends. “Don’t worry,I know we’ll figure this out. Just please take care of Diogee until then, okay?”  
• • • •  
After yet another successful morning of destroying pistachios, Cavendish and Dakota were having yet another argument about lunch.  
“We are not eating anything at Slushy Dog again! Do you remember what happened last time?”  
“No, I don’t, and neither do you. That alien garbage wiped our memories, remember?”  
“How on Earth am I supposed to remember if I had my memory—Oh, never mind.”  
Dakota glanced out the window of the car and then did a double take. “Hey, look at that cop car. Is that who I think it is?”  
Cavendish sighed. “I can’t look, I’m driving. Who do you think it is?”  
Dakota leaned forwards to get a better look.  
“It looks like Milo.”  
“It is not Milo.”  
“How do you know? You’re not even looking!”  
“There is no reason for Milo to be in a police car. Besides, isn’t he in school right now?”  
“ Apparently not.”  
Cavendish sighed. “Fine,we’ll look into this.But I’m sure it’s nothing.”  
“I’m not so sure...” Dakota mumbled.


	2. ...Will Go Wrong

Milo fidgeted nervously in the backseat of the police car. Despite what he’d told his friends, he really was worried. He was sure that his parents never would have signed the order, but if they hadn’t, why was this happening?  
“It’s just Murphy’s Law”, Milo whispered to himself. “There was probably just a paperwork mix-up.”  
He knew that it would probably all work out, but he still couldn’t help being nervous.  
_______________________________________  
For a few seconds after the Juvey-cops took Milo away, everything was completely silent.  
Then chaos broke out.  
Diogee started scratching and barking frantically at the closed door, half of the class was busy speculating about what Milo had done to make his parents sign the Unwind order(with Zack and Melissa insisting that the Murphy parents didn’t sign the order),Mrs. Murawski was still just staring at the order form and Bradley was telling people that Milo was fine and that this was just a stunt to get attention.   
Outside the door,a certain volunteer crossing guard was busy writing down an imaginary safety violation when he heard the ruckus coming from inside the classroom. Opening the door, he was greeted by a small dog who ran down the hall and out of the door in search of Milo.  
Elliot walked into the classroom and saw what was happening.   
“Oh, great. What did Milo do now?”  
Melissa stormed over to Elliot.  
“He isn’t here! Do you even try to find out what happened before you blame him?”  
Elliot rolled his eyes.   
“What happened in here, anyway?Another freak earthquake? He’s going to be in so much trouble when he gets back.”  
“He’s not coming back.” Zack said quietly.  
Elliot just shrugged. “Well, I guess the school had to kick out that little menace eventually.”

It took three students and a teacher to hold Melissa back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update.


	3. Fall

Living with Murphy’s Law all his life, Martin Murphy was used to catastrophe.  
He was always preparing for whatever came next and tried to make the best out of any situation. But today, while he was inspecting a water treatment facility, a small earthquake shook the building, causing a massive tank of water to spill all over him. Needless to say, his phone no longer worked.  
Martin wasn’t too concerned. Even if his phone wasn’t functional right now, it would most likely work just fine after a few hours in a bag of rice. The workday flew by and once his phone was back on, it was already time to head home.  
On the way back, he stopped for gas. His phone was buzzing, but he didn’t notice until a few seconds before it stopped. Luckily, the caller had left a message.  
As he was about to call the unknown number and see what was going on,Milo’s father saw a notification at the top of his screen.  
32 UNVIEWED MESSAGES.  
Most of them were apparently from Milo’s friends, but one of them was from Milo’s school and the last several were from Bridgette.  
Martin hit PLAY ALL and pulled into a parking space to listen.  
The first message was(of course)from Milo.  
“Hi Dad, Diogee followed me to school again. He- hang on, I’ll call you back in a minute. Class is starting and we’re not really supposed to have our phones out.”  
Nothing unusual except for one small thing. Why had Milo called him about the dog instead of just telling him to go home?  
The second message started. “Mr. Murphy? This is Amanda.” The girl sounded upset, almost frantic. “Please tell me you didn’t actually sign the order-“  
There was a clicking sound as if Amanda’s phone had lost the signal.  
The third message started, but instead of listening to it Martin skipped ahead to a more recent message.  
“Come on, please pick up this time.” The voice was unmistakably Melissa.  
“Milo’s in trouble. You need to call the police and tell them.”  
Tell them what?  
Zack's voice cut in. “You didn’t sign the Unwind Order, right? “  
Martin froze.  
This couldn’t be happening.  
Surely he had heard wrong.  
He and Bridgette loved both of their children. Neither one of them would have had the Juvey-cops take Milo away for unwinding without even so much as a goodbye. This had to be a mistake.  
With shaking hands, he scrolled down to last message and hit PLAY. Bridgette’s voice filled his ears.  
“I can’t believe this. They’re taking Milo to the harvest camp and I couldn’t even-“  
He couldn’t listen to any more. That short piece of a message had confirmed all that he needed to know.  
Martin Murphy was used to catastrophe. He was always falling down, only to get back up again.  
But this was worse than any fall or broken bone.  
As he drove home, he wondered if he could ever get back up from this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update: October 17, 2019


	4. Out Of Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for being late. I couldn’t find my phone for most of yesterday.

Melissa Chase was never one to give up easily.   
Although the situation looked bleak, she had no intention of letting her best friend be cut apart. Even as he was led out of the classroom by the police, she had the beginnings of a plan forming in her mind.  
She would never accept this. Signature or no signature, Milo was not going to be unwound on her watch.   
Now Melissa just needed more people to be in on her rescue plan. And she and Zack both knew two people who could change Milo’s future.  
———...———...———...———...———...———  
One hour after the police car with Milo in it had passed them, Cavendish and Dakota were still arguing.  
“All I’m saying is we should check now and just be sure that he’s okay.”   
Cavendish sighed.  
“It’s Milo. You know that he never would have broken the law. I’m positive that he is absolutely fine. Besides, we’re supposed to be on a mission.”  
“So just tell Mr. Block that we already finished cleaning the outhouses.”  
“He’s going to find out that we didn’t actually get it done. Why can’t you take our jobs seriously for once?”  
Dakota stayed silent, thinking about everything that Cavendish didn’t know. Neither time traveler felt like talking to the other at the moment.  
The silence was suddenly broken by the ringing of a cell phone.   
Cavendish reached for it, but Dakota grabbed the phone first. “Cav, you shouldn’t answer the phone while you’re driving.”  
Dakota leaned back in his seat and put the phone to his ear.  
“Hey, Melissa, before you tell me whatever you want to tell me, can I ask you a quick question?”  
There was a pause.  
“Is Milo in some kind of trouble?”  
Cavendish was startled to see Dakota suddenly sit bolt upright.  
“He WHAT? Quick, we have to find him! Which camp did they take him to?”  
Cavendish pulled over.  
“Dakota, what on Earth is going on?”  
Dakota handed him the phone.  
“Hello?” The worry in Zack’s voice was unmistakable.  
“This is Cavendish. What happened to Milo?”


	5. Delay

What should have been a 3-hour drive took until 5 PM thanks to Murphy’s Law. 

After the first car was damaged beyond repair after a stampede of escaped circus elephants stepped on the hood, Milo was locked in the backseat of a different police car that picked him up from the site of the wreck. With one of the Juvey-Cops holding his (specially reinforced)cuffs so he couldn’t run, Milo was placed in the new car only for the driver to discover that the car had suddenly run out of gas. 

After refueling the car, the trip went fairly smoothly, with only two flat tires and one strange GPS malfunction.

Milo was becoming increasingly worried. He was still hoping that somehow his unwinding would be delayed for long enough for his parents to clear up whatever mistake had been made. But his condition was unpredictable and usually tended to make situations worse, not better.  
Still, this would probably all work out in the end.

Probably.

These thoughts ran through his head as he sat on a bench while somebody tried to take his picture. (They had wanted to use his school photo, only to discover a picture of Bigfoot instead of Milo.) 

Finally a picture that actually looked like him was taken for his file and Milo was told that the only available appointment that they had for him was tomorrow afternoon.

His phone was confiscated, but thankfully the staff let him keep his backpack. As Milo handed over his cell phone to a guard, it suddenly buzzed, despite the fact that for the entire day it had had no signal.

Milo unlocked his phone. There was a text from almost everyone he knew, the most recent ones being from Melissa and Zack.

ZACK: Your parents are doing everything they can. We’re going to get you home.

MELISSA: I have a plan. Don’t give up.

SARA: I can’t believe this! Don’t worry, I’ll help you however I can. Mom and Dad are on the phone with the police right now.

AMANDA: There has to be something we can do about this. I know your parents never signed the order, so you can’t be unwound.

MOM: Milo, are you safe for now?? We would never let this happen to you, so please don’t give up. 

DAD: Your Mom and I didn’t sign that form. We both love you and we WILL get you home safely.

There were more messages, but Milo had to hand over his phone after that.

Still, he fell asleep that night feeling a little more reassured and a lot better.


	6. Violations

This was getting ridiculous.

It was bad enough that little menace insisted on causing disasters everywhere he went. It was bad enough that one of his friends(accomplices?) had lunged at him earlier that day. It was just weird that a platypus wearing some kind of hat had been riding the city bus that morning. This day had been bizarre, and now things were quieting down. Everything was how it was supposed to be,right?

But why had somebody said that Milo wasn’t coming back?

These were the thoughts of Elliot as he started his afternoon shift of volunteering. He knew that he was supposed to be on the lookout for AWOLs and other rule violations, but he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering.

It was just way too quiet.

Where was that kid? He usually went with his friends to go cause chaos after school (was it really something out of his control? Well, either way it just wasn’t acceptable,right?), but the day had been quite uneventful-other than what happened that morning.

There was no reason to complain. There was no chaos, no disaster. Problem solved.

So what felt so WRONG about this whole situation?

He had to fix safety hazards. It was his job.He needed to stay focused,his shift wasn’t over yet—-

A passerby bumped into him, making him drop the stop sign. Elliot looked up to glare at him, but before he could say anything the other man dusted off his lab coat and said, “It’s way too quiet, isn’t it?”

Elliot sighed.

“Tell me about it.”


	7. Why’d You Come So Early?

At 4:57 in the morning, a young boy who had once been the lead singer of the Lumberzacks was jolted awake by the sound of someone banging on his front door. Rubbing his eyes, Zack grabbed his phone from the dresser next to his bed and started downstairs.

Why on Earth had Sarah and Melissa called him 12 times in the last 10 minutes?

Melissa’s last message said that she was right at the door. Still half-asleep, he opened the door to find the redhead standing there with two paper bags, a handful of camp brochures and a tired look in her eyes.

“Why’d you come so early?” Zack yawned, rubbing his eyes. “Wait, isn’t it Saturday? We don’t need to leave for school-“

Melissa wordlessly shoved the brochures into his hands. 

Those brochures were colorfully printed, filled with images of teenagers dressed in white, blue and pink. Flipping one of them over, the front page read “Tri-State Harvest Camp” in blue letters.

Suddenly Zack was wide awake. The events of the previous day flooded back into his mind. Throwing on a pair of shoes, he raced to the car where Cavendish and Dakota were both waiting for him.

Zack quickly climbed into the backseat next to Melissa.

“Is he going to be okay? He’s going to be okay, right? Please tell me you found him.”

Already driving, Cavendish handed Zack another pamphlet and a paper bag.  
“We’ve narrowed it down to just a few camps where they would have taken him.”

Melissa took off an earpiece and gave it to Zack.  
“Sarah’s helping us out from home. She’s doing research on each of the camps and she’s been calling them and seeing if they have them.”

Sarah’s voice came from the earpiece, along with the sound of computer keys.  
“I couldn’t get three of them to answer the phone and two other ones refused to give me any information on whether or not they have my brother. I’m about to try to call one of the camps again, so I’m about to hang up.”

A moment later the earpiece was quiet.

“So ...we’re going to check the rest until we can find Milo?”

Dakota turned around in his seat and noticed how worried Zack looked.  
”Hey, you okay?” he gently asked Zack.

“I’m just...What if we’re too late?”

Melissa put a hand on Zack's shoulder.  
“Don’t say that. We WILL find him. Milo’s tough, he’s made it through much worse than this. We’re going to find him and then we’re going to bring him home safely.”

Zack wasn’t entirely sure if Melissa was trying to convince him or herself.

For the moment, he could focus on trying to make a plan.

He remembered being handed a paper bag. It smelled nice, but somewhat burned.

“What’s in here?” He asked, opening the bag.

Dakota grinned and handed him another bag.  
“These are from our last mission. We figured you kids hadn’t eaten breakfast yet and we didn’t really have time to stop.”

“If by our last mission you mean barely managing to sabotage Brick and Savannah’s last mission because Mr. Block STILL doesn’t believe us...” muttered Cavendish under his breath.

Zack opened one of the packages out of curiosity.

The bag was full of roasted pistachios.

:;———————————————-;:

On a warm Saturday morning, Milo was busy trying to repair a bench that had fallen to pieces the moment he sat down. He had only been there one night and already the camp had a repair bill of over $20,000.

It hadn’t been his fault a sinkhole had opened up under the pool, but Milo could have sworn that the guards had started giving him the stink-eye.

While he was trying to find the one screw on the bench that was still missing, Milo suddenly noticed the guard who was now standing behind him.

The guard was wearing heavy-duty gloves and a helmet and was holding a clipboard with a sheet of paper listing various names and times.

“Come on, kid. It’s time.“

Milo swallowed nervously.

”But... I thought they said my appointment wasn’t until tonight.”

The guard didn’t give any reply.

Holding his backpack close to him, Milo looked at the guard, whose face was shadowed by the helmet and visor.

“Why’d you come so early?”


	8. Point Of View

At 6:02 in the morning, Martin Murphy opened his eyes, stretched...and instantly remembered what had happened the day before. Jumping out of bed, he raced to the living room, desperately hoping that the events of the previous day had been nothing but a dream. 

He awoke to a nightmare.

Sara was in the living room frantically typing away at her laptop surrounded by maps and pamphlets. Diogee was nowhere in sight.(He had refused to eat anything and had only scratched at the window and whimpered since Milo had been taken away.) Bridgette was on the phone and seemed to be arguing with whoever she was talking to.

”NO, I did NOT sign that form, and I certainly did not cite the reason for unwinding as ‘danger to society’. I know for a fact that Martin wouldn’t say that about our baby either.” •••———•••

A list of names and phone numbers was sitting on the counter with most of them crossed off. Milo’s family had already called almost every division of the police and nearly every Harvest Camp in the Tri-State Area. 

Bridgette was exhausted. She and her husband had been up past midnight trying to figure out where Milo was and how to bring him home. Now she was running on (6 cups of)coffee and a few hours of sleep as she tried one more number.

“Ah, Milo D. Murphy. Age 13?”

Bridgette could feel her pulse racing. The Juvey-Cops had finally managed to find her son’s information. Now maybe she could find out where he was and get ready to go bring him back home.

”Ma’am, according to our computer system, either your husband or you signed his order form.”

Her grip on the phone tightened.

”Why?” she finally forced out. 

She had meant to ask why the records would say that when it couldn’t be true,but apparently the person on the other end of the line misunderstood.

”It says here that the reason for unwinding... huh. It just says,”danger to society.” Is that the reason you two put down?”

Bridgette was angrier than she had ever been in her life.

”NO, I did NOT sign that form, and I certainly did not cite the reason for unwinding as ‘danger to society’. I know for a fact that Martin wouldn’t say that about our baby either.”  
  
The conversation ended shortly after that.

—— •• •—•• ———

Sara just wanted her little brother back. 

It was so weird how quiet the house was. She had walked up to his room early in the morning, noticing the absence of Milo’s backpack and the fact that the room was exactly like it was when he left for school that morning.

That was very strange. Usually there would be a tree through the window or a leaky pipe spraying water through a hole in the wall or ceiling.It was just quiet and well-preserved,like a display in a museum.

That scared her. Far from being peaceful, the relative quiet felt eerie.It was a constant reminder that something was missing. No, someONE was missing. —• • • —•• •••   
Diogee missed his boy. He may be brave, but he was still just a puppy and and puppies shouldn’t be forced to leave their parents. Milo was strong, but he needed help.

Diogee was sure that he could track down Milo. After all, it was his job. 

Whenever Milo was in serious danger, Diogee had to be there. He needed to protect Milo.

Milo could take care of himself in most disasters, but Diogee had to help him with this one.  
——• •••

Perry went in to check on his nemesis. They hadn’t spoken to each other since the argument, but Perry hadn’t realized that Doofenshmirtz was taking it this hard.

Perry went to the little shed out back, pausing to read a sign posted on it.

DOOFENSHMIRTZ GOOD INCORPORATED

Usually anything with Heinz Doofenshmirtz’s name on it would be filled with noise, such as tools clanking or the sound of a smoke alarm.

Why was his nemesis so quiet?

Cautiously, slowly, Perry pushed the door open. It wasn’t locked. It hadn’t even been closed all the way.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz jumped to his feet and whirled around.

”Mil-Oh. Hey, Perry the platypus.”

He sank back into his seat. Perry hopped up on the desk and chattered, hoping to find out what was wrong. There was a photo of a young boy on the desk. He looked like he was fairly close in age to Phineas and Ferb. The boy had brown hair with a cowlick in the front, a striped sweater-vest and a large backpack.

The longer Perry looked at the photo, the more he noticed. The boy had several scars, and Perry suspected that he probably had several more that weren’t visible in the picture. He had a large bruise on his cheek and what looked almost like a burn mark on his shirt. He was also dripping wet.

But despite all that, what was most striking about the kid in the photo wasn’t the fact that he was covered in water. It wasn’t his injuries. It was his wide, cheerful, optimistic smile,a smile that made Perry feel like smiling back. It was the spark in his eyes that seemed to be full of ideas and adventures, and Perry soon found himself thinking about his boys.

”Perry the Platypus?”

Perry looked up from the photo. His nemesis looked even more tired than the night he got up and built 3 inators in his sleep.

”His name is Milo and he’s missing. Can you please help look for him?”

Perry pulled out a tiny camera from his hat. Ignoring Doofenshmirtz’s questions about how many gadgets were in that hat, he snapped a picture and uploaded it to the O.W.C.A. database. If he didn’t already have a mission today he would have gone searching for Milo himself. But he would make sure that somebody would help him.

—• ——— •——

Somewhere in Danville, someone was pacing back and forth. He’d heard what had happened to the Murphy boy by now. But he wasn’t the one to blame for that.He wasn’t, right?

”It’s not my fault.”

He repeated that under his breath, not knowing that he was getting louder with every word.

But for crying out loud, who would blame him? He was just doing his job...wasn’t he?


	9. Accidents

Milo looked up at the guard and swallowed nervously.

“Why’d you come so early?”

The guard sighed. “Your appointment has been rescheduled. It was moved to an earlier time than the one set after your little stunt last night.”

Milo realized what he was talking about. “I-it’s Murphy’s Law. I can’t help it. I’m sorry, but I really didn’t mean to-”

He was cut off in the middle of his sentence.

“Really? You didn’t mean to make the cabin roof collapse?”

Milo picked up his backpack and looked up at the guard.   
“It’s 9:26 now. I thought I at least had until tonight before they...” His voice trailed off mid-sentence.

Firmly holding onto Milo by the arm, his guard was leading him towards the building that was referred to as the Unwinding Facility by the harvest camp(although nothing they did ever seemed to discourage the kids from calling it the chop shop).

“Hey, you don’t need to worry.” A woman wearing scrubs and a name tag that read “Dr. Underwood” had approached Milo and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
“We’re going to perform a full-body x-ray first to make sure you don’t have any broken bones, so you still have a little while.”

At least this would buy him some more time. Still, Milo walked through the door to the Chop Shop with a feeling that he might never walk back out. Once they were inside, he was sent into a room where an X-ray machine was set up. He turned to Dr. Underwood.  
“Hey, I remember you from the hospital! You’re Zack’s mom!”

Dr. Underwood was writing something on a clipboard.  
“Yes, that’s right. That was quite an eventful field trip.”

“I didn’t know you worked here too.” Milo’s voice was quiet.

“Well, I don’t. At least not usually. They actually just called the hospital last night and said that they needed an X-ray for for one of the ...patients. In order to get here on time, I had to leave so early in the morning that I don’t think anyone else was even up yet.”

Milo silently slid a piece of paper onto her clipboard when nobody was looking. When Dr. Underwood unfolded it, it said “I’m not supposed to be here. My parents didn’t sign the form. Please get me out.” 

She turned to him and whispered ”That’s what I thought. I can’t sneak you out without getting caught, but I called your parents and told them where you are. In the meantime, I’ll take as long as I can with the X-ray.”  
——————————————————————————  
Melissa Chase was in the backseat of the car next to Zack. The Murphy family had called the 14 closest camps, 3 of which had flat-out refused to give them an answer. Cavendish and Dakota had driven the car to one of them, but Milo wasn’t there. Now they were running out of time.

She had suggested going back in time and warning Milo before this whole thing even started, but Cavendish had explained that Mr. Block had put a tracking device on the car that would detect any unauthorized time travel.   
He and Dakota had been sent to downtown Danville for pistachio duty, but neither one of them had any intention of doing that.   
He could drive as far away from the intended destination as they needed, but if they tried to go back or forwards in time the time machine would be immediately transported back to Headquarters.

Zack was on the phone again, trying to get any kind of information on how to find Milo. It was hard to hear the speaker on the other end because Zack’s stomach was growling so loudly, but he refused to take a break and insisted that he didn’t have time to eat. It took over half an hour to convince him to take a few handfuls of pistachios.

Everyone in the car was tired, but when Melissa and Zack both enthusiastically shouted ”FINALLY!” from the backseat the two time agents were instantly wide awake.

“They found him!” Zack said, relieved.

A moment later two phones started ringing. Zack’s call was from his mother, while Sara was calling Melissa.

After the first minute of the phone calls, it was clear that something was wrong.

Melissa was getting louder and louder, Zack seemed even more tense than he had a few minutes ago and both of the kids looked scared.


	10. World With(Out) Milo

He just couldn’t seem to focus today.

it really wasn’t like him. He was usually so dedicated (to the point of obsession) to his job, always trying to keep others safe. He was usually so proud of his work, thinking of himself as a hero who protected everyone else.

_Except him._

He was getting distracted again. _I made the right choice. I HAD to do that. Besides, it’s not like I knew it would actually **work**_.

All day long he had been pacing back and forth, back and forth, over and over. He just kept on getting distracted by his own thoughts.

_I could have asked the parents to do it, but they might not have agreed . They wouldn’t understand. I made the right choice, didn’t I?_

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Yes, of course he had made the right decision. This city didn’t need that Jinx causing all that trouble. When Milo was around, things could go from peaceful and safe to total chaos in under a minute.

This city needed order. It needed safety. It needed—

“—Milo Murphy, that’s right. Thank you for signing.”

Elliot turned around and saw Amanda Lopez holding a clipboard. She was always so careful to maintain order.

He was about to go ask her what she was doing, but she walked up to him first.

“Were you talking about Milo?” Elliot asked, confused. Surely someone so dedicated to structure and order wouldn’t be looking for him...right?

Amanda nodded.”He’s scheduled to be unwound, but his parents never signed the order. Would you please sign this petition to bring him home?”

Startled, Elliot responded with “You actually want him back?!?”

Amanda turned to face the self-proclaimed safety czar. “Yes, I do.”

“But—“

“Elliot, I know you don’t like Milo, but he does not deserve what’s about to happen to him. Please help me get him out of there.”

”You’re better off without him. He’s just a Ji-”

”Don’t you DARE finish that sentence.” Amanda was gripping the clipboard so hard that her knuckles were turning white. “Milo is the sweetest, most caring person I have ever met. Everyone who knows Milo is better off _because of him.”_

And with that, Amanda Lopez stormed off. Elliot had never seen her so angry. It wasn’t like it was personal, Milo was simply too dangerous.

At least he kept telling himself that.

Why couldn’t he just focus on his job?


	11. Center Of Attention

Sara leaned forward in her seat and got ready to get out of the car. “Dad, is it my turn?”

Martin shook his head. “I’m changing the tire this time.”  
Pulling yet another spare tire out of the trunk, he replaced the flat tire on the car. Well, to say that it was a flat tire would be like calling the Titanic an unfortunate accident. The tire was shredded, with about half of the rubber left on the road in shreds.

It was the fifth flat tire today. It was also the twenty-eighth stop made in the trip. But no matter how many setbacks there were, Martin wasn’t going to give up.

Living with Murphy’s Law all his life had taught him a few things about perseverance. He was always trying again and again to protect himself and his family.

He could still remember the time when Sara was three years old and broke her arm. Martin has been carrying her on his shoulders when a heavy tree branch broke and hit her. He had felt so guilty afterwards, wondering if Murphy’s Law would end up hurting her again.

And then Milo came along. Martin had always been an optimistic person, but Milo... he just lit up the world when he smiled. Being around his son made Martin remember that most of the time his condition was a gift, not a curse.

Murphy’s law stated that “if it can go wrong, it will go wrong.” Some people had phrased it as , ” if it can happen, it will.” But the truth was, Murphy’s law was about beating the odds. The Murphy boys always beat the odds again and again, for better or for worse. Even when it felt like the whole world was crashing down, quick thinking and staying prepared could turn a chaotic disaster into an unlikely adventure.

Martin had beaten the odds before. He could do it again.

He would get Milo back, even if he only had a few hours left in which to do so.

He would beat the odds. He had to. For Milo.

After replacing the blown-out tire with the last spare in the trunk, he got back in the car and tried to start the engine. The car sputtered and then went silent. The gas meter showed that the car had no fuel left, but there was a container of gasoline in the trunk.

Martin climbed back out of the car and pulled the half-full gasoline container out, only for a massive eagle to swoop out of the sky, pull it from his hands and drop it miles away, where a man with no fuel left in his car was quite surprised when he pulled into a gas station only for a gasoline can to fall out of the sky into his hands.

Bridgette was in the front seat trying to use Sara’s phone. She had placed call after call with her own, but the signal at her house and in the car had always been so terrible that nothing would go through. She left messages anyway, hoping that someone would hear them. Finally her phone ran out of battery, and after the car window had malfunctioned just as the ran over a speed bump, causing her husband’s cell phone to hit the road and crack too badly to function, she had started calling with Sara’s phone. She still had yet to get an answer.

Sara unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. There was a bus coming down the road with the words “TWIN PINES HARVEST” on the sides. That gave her an idea.

Bridgette had been trying to figure out if there was a gas station within walking distance when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Mom, I have an idea on how to rescue Milo.”

Sara leaned in and quickly whispered her plan to her mother.

Outside the car, Martin heard a startled voice call out “You want to do WHAT?!?”  
...———...———...———...———...———  
As the driver of the bus rounded the corner of the country road, he could see a couple standing by the side of the road waving frantically. Wondering why people always seemed to have car trouble farthest away from gas stations, he pulled over with a sigh. 

“Nobody get out of the bus, okay?“ 

The passengers looked at him like he was crazy. Well, what had he expected from a bus with only tithes for passengers, straight from the church where they had been picked up?

Getting out of the car, he checked to make sure the air conditioner was still on(it was a hot day, after all) and stepped off the bus.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

The last thing he expected them to do was to point to the lettering on the bus and say ”Could you please give us a lift?”  
—-...——...—-...—-...  
Sara quietly stepped out from behind the car and slipped behind the bus. She knew the road was empty for now except for the car and this bus, but for how long?

The driver let her mom use his battery pack to charge her phone, but he had insisted that for the safety of the passengers, he couldn’t let two total strangers on board. He did, however, give her parents the number for a tow truck.

Her phone buzzed.

From: Mom

Plan B, but please BE CAREFUL.

“Can you look under the hood and see if anything looks damaged?” her dad asked the bus driver.

Complaining about smudges on his fluorescent vest, he looked under the hood of the car. While he was distracted, Sara quietly pushed open the bus door and walked to the last seat all the way in the back. Kids in white stared at her but didn’t say anything.

On her way there she glanced back at the driver’s seat. Startled, she did a double take.

Why did that stop sign have her brother’s name on one side? She tried to figure it out as she ducked down in the last seat, trying to hide.

The driver finally got back on the bus and drove off, muttering,”First the petitioners and now this.... bus duty... did I really have to sub for the driver...should be on patrol...”

Sara finally started to relax a little. She was closer to her brother and she herself was a safe from being unwound because her name wouldn’t even be in the system. All she had to do was stay quiet and not get noticed.

“Mind telling me what you think you’re doing?” hissed a voice from next to her.

Sara turned and stifled a yelp as she saw who was sitting in the seat across the row, staring at her.

———...———...———...———...———  
Dr. Underwood sighed as she looked at the x-rays. There was clear evidence of many breaks and fractures in the past, but Milo didn’t have any injury serious enough to save him at the moment.

She had taken as long as she possibly could with the X-ray, which wasn’t very hard given the blackout, odd equipment malfunctions and a very minor earthquake.

But now she had no more excuses left to stall. She walked into the waiting room where the boy sat, looking worried but still hopeful. She had contacted his parents, but the call had been disconnected and she couldn’t seem to successfully convince the doctors to wait for a phone call that may or may not happen.

All she could do now was comfort Milo and keep stalling.

Would that be enough?  
...———...———...———...  
Sara stared at the dark-haired boy across from her as he stood up and switched seats so that he was next to her.

“Don’t stand up in a moving bus!” shouted the driver.

Ignoring him, Bradley crosses his arms and asked,”No, seriously. What are you doing here?”

He didn’t know why Milo’s sister looked so shocked to see him. HE should be the one shocked to see HER, since she had apparently decided to climb aboard a random bus.  
Seriously, what was going on?

Bradley had always been used to being the center of attention when he was little. His parents had explained to him why he wore white clothes, why he always needed to be so careful not to get badly hurt and what he would be doing when he was 13. 

His thirteenth birthday had been months ago. Because of all the chaos in this town, Bradley had spent a few extra months in Swamp City. He didn’t know how he felt about that. With all the attention Milo had at school, it was like Bradley didn’t even exist to the rest of his class.

What an attention hog.

Still, it was kind of a relief to not be hovered over so much. He had stopped wearing his whites to school in kindergarten after he was placed in the same class as Milo Murphy. He usually tried to include at least some white in him outfit anyway, to remind people that he was a tithe.

He knew by now that Milo was really going to be unwound. Even though he hadn’t been faking after all, he had still turned Bradley's day into just another episode of the Milo show.

Bradley couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. It was so strange when the cops came to school. Milo really didn’t seem like the Unwind type. I mean, sure he was dangerous, but not like that!

And now his sister was headed to Twin Pines too. Did the Murphy parents send Sara so Milo wouldn’t have to go through this alone? He didn’t think Sara would have done something bad enough to earn this.

“Please don’t say anything.” Sara whispered. “I can explain why I’m here, but please don’t tell anyone.”

Against what he thought was his better judgement, Bradley nodded.  
“Deal. So why in the world did you get on in the middle of nowhere instead of at the bus stop? What are you even doing?”

“Shh. Not so loud. I’ll tell you everything. On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Help me find my brother.”


	12. Your Plan

Bradley stared back at the girl who had just randomly climbed _onto_ the bus to Twin Pines. What on Earth was she talking about? 

“So you’re trying to sneak to a harvest camp to take your brother back?”

Sara nodded.

”You do realize they’re not just going to let you walk in there and take him. I mean, how are you going to get him back in your house without your parents noticing?”

Sara looked confused, then cracked a smile. “Easy. I’m not.”

Bradley crossed his arms. “So you’re just going to hide him in the yard or something?”

”Wha—no! Of course I’m not going to keep him in the yard!”

”Then how are you going to keep your parents from finding out you snuck out to go get your Unwind brother?”

Sara took a deep breath and then lowered her voice.

”They already know I’m here, and we’re all trying to get him back. The phone calls aren’t working, so this is plan B.”

Bradley sighed. “It’s been less than a week and they already want him back?”

”Of course!”

This shout caught the bus driver’s attention, but by the time he pulled over and then turned around to see who was being so loud, Sara was already silently crouching down in the seat. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he continued driving.

”Did you seriously stop the car just to look behind you? Now we’re all about to be late.” complained Bradley.

“SAFETY IS IMPORTANT!” called the very irritated bus driver. “You should always keep your eyes on the road while driving.”

Once the driver was once again occupied, Bradley leaned in to talk to Sara more quietly.

”This was a serious decision. Did they really not think it through? What did Milo even do, anyway? I didn’t really think he would do something _that_ destructive.”

”He didn’t” Sara hissed. “Our parents never signed the order. There was some kind of a weird mistake.”

Bradley just sighed.”Of course there was. So what are you going to do, just walk in there and demand that they give him back?”

There was no response.

Bradley’s eyes widened. “You’re not serious.”

Sara looked around the bus. “I need to blend in. Do you have any idea where I could get a white set of clothes in my size in the next—” she checked her Dr. Zone watch—“8 minutes?”

Bradley raised an eyebrow at her.

———...———...———...———...———

Milo was feeling anxious.

He was sitting in the waiting room of the Chop Shop while the doctors looked over his X-rays. Of course the one time a broken bone could have helped him he didn’t have any. 

  
The doctors had made him change out of his usual clothes into a hospital gown. He had worn these so many times, why did this time have to be the last time?

He was still allowed to have his backpack with him for now, so he held it close. He didn’t want to put it down because he was afraid that if he did, he wouldn’t get it back. It would just be shipped back to his house in the mail along with his last change of clothes.

He wasn’t allowed to wear his body armor because it would have interfered with the X-rays. Without that familiar weight, he felt so...vulnerable.   
  


Clutching his backpack, he approached the nurse who was watching the doors to make sure he didn’t make a run for it.

“Excuse me” Milo took a deep breath and tried one last plan to get out of this in one piece. “Can I please make one phone call? They said we have a few more minutes.” 

She thought for a moment. “Well, I don’t see why not. Who are you calling?”

“My parents.”

A doctor put her hand on Milo’s shoulder in what she probably thought was a reassuring manner. “Look, kiddo. You really don’t want the last thing you ever say to your family to be out of anger. Just relax, okay? It’ll be fine, Mikey.”

Dr. Underwood walked over. “His name is Milo. Maybe there’s a typo in his paperwork. We should probably re-check all of it, just to be sure.”

The doctor with her hand on Milo’s shoulder checked her clipboard. “No, I just read his name wrong. There’s no need.”

Dr. Underwood tried without success to step in front of Milo. “Well, can’t you at least let him make his phone call? I know this kid. He’s not going to say anything that he would regret later.”

Milo desperately hoped her plan would stall for long enough. He wanted to go home.


	13. I Can’t Lose

Melissa gripped her phone in her hand so tightly that it looked like she was trying to crush it. Her knuckles were white when she finally hung up. She looked absolutely furious, but anyone who knew her would have also seen the fear in her eyes.

Zack has gotten off of the phone a few minutes before Melissa and had just been sitting there looking stunned. He looked shaken as he wordlessly shuffled through the brochures before handing Dakota the one for Twin Pines Harvest camp. He didn’t say anything, not even when Melissa finally got off the phone. Finally he spoke up.

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either.” Melissa growled from the backseat. “WHY would they lie to Milo like this?! It isn’t fair! What was the point of telling him all that if they weren’t coming?”

She looked dangerously angry. Dakota leaned over the back of his seat to look at her.

“Hey. What happened, exactly?” He spoke in the careful tone that trying to calm down an agitated tiger might use.

Cavendish took his eyes off the road just long enough to glance at the two kids in the backseat.  
“Are you okay? Is Milo okay?”

Zack sighed. “He’s at Twin Pines. My mom was called down there to perform an X-ray on a kid who turned out to be Milo. She tried to stall for as long as she could to give him more time.”

Dakota didn’t like the sound of “tried to”. Trying to ignore the feeling of his stomach twisting, he asked, “Did it work?”

Melissa looked up at him, her azure eyes full of tears. 

“While Dr. Underwood was there, she asked for his file so she could prove there wasn’t any order form for him.”

“So he’s coming home?” Cavendish asked, confused and wondering why on Earth this was bad news.

Zack quietly set down his phone. “It was there, and it was signed.”

Silence.

“You’re kidding me, right? You-you’re kidding me, right?”  
Dakota finally responded.

Cavendish agreed. “His parents don’t seem like the kind of people who would do this.”

Zack tried to call his mom again and ask if there had been some kind of a mistake, only for her to send a photo of the signed order form.

Things were so quiet in the car until a quiet question came from the backseat.  
“We’re still going to get him, right?”

Zack turned to face Melissa, or at least did the best he could while buckled into a seatbelt.  
“Of course! We’re not going to let them do anything to him. He’s Milo Murphy. He’s survived far worse, right?”

Zack hoped that he sounded more confident than he felt, but Melissa nodded and forced out a smile.

“At least we still have Sara on our side. She called me from—wait. What was she even doing at a Harvest Camp?”  
...———...———...  
Milo couldn’t believe it.

His parents had always been so reassuring. They had told him that EHML was nothing shameful. He remembered when he was five years old and he had to have stitches after a bulldozer accident. His Dad held his hand and told him that everything was going to be okay.  
He still remembered being told that even though Murphy’s Law could be scary sometimes, he was loved and his family wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

Why would they say that and then just ... get rid of him?

Zack’s mom had requested to see his file. He had been so excited, thinking that with no signature they would send him home.

Dr. Underwood’s face fell when she looked at the signed form. Milo tried to rush forward to see for himself, but two guards held him back.

It hurt to hear that his parents tried to get rid of him.

He wondered if Sara still cared about him. Would she fight for him if she found out what their parents did? He still couldn’t believe it.

He was quiet as he was led back to the waiting room. He could still hear Dr. Underwood arguing for any more time, but he knew the truth.

If his parents wouldn’t come to get him, it was up to him to come up with a new plan.

He couldn’t go home, but he also couldn’t give up.

He felt really hurt about what his family had done(why? It didn’t make any sense) but he still had so many happy memories with them. 

He didn’t want to lose those memories.  
———...———...———...———...———  
Melissa and Zack watched anxiously out of the car window as Cavendish pulled up towards the camp entrance. 

Everyone in that car was determined not to lose Milo.

Zack didn’t want to lose his sweet friend, who had gone out of his way to help anyone in need.

Melissa didn’t want to lose the person who had shown her all the reasons that any day could be exceptional.

Cavendish still felt guilty about accusing Milo of being from a rival agency bent on taking down Mr. Block and everything he had ever accomplished. He had grown fond of the boy, and he wanted to make it up to him if he could. He was determined to rescue that child and bring him home safely.

Dakota thought about all the times he had to lose his best friend and partner. Even though he always got him back, it still hurt every time. He didn’t want to see that happen to anyone, let alone Milo’s family. And as for Milo... the poor kid didn’t deserve this. He freaking saved the world from evil pistachios, for crying out loud!

Melissa climbed out of the car. “We can’t lose.”

Everyone knew exactly what she meant.

...———...———...  
Bridgette had finally managed to charge her phone up to 3%. The tow truck driver had a car charger, and as he towed the car that had started spewing smoke despite not being turned on, she and Martin had taken turns charging their phones.

1 MISSED MESSAGE

She immediately recognized the number. It was the one that she had called 14 times in a row before her phone died. Her heart was racing as she played the voicemail, hoping to hear that her son would soon be released. 

“Martin- it’s alright! We’re getting him back!”

Her husband’s face looked like a little kid on Christmas as he hit PLAY and turned on speakerphone. He was so excited to hear the good news.

The Murphy’s excitement turned to confusion when the recording started.

“Go ahead, Milo. You have three minutes.”  
“Hi, Mom and Dad. And Sara.”  
That was their son’s voice. They were sure of it.

“I.. um... have a few minutes. Zack’s mom  
convinced them to let me make a phone call and then go to the bathroom.”

He sounded so upset. But he had to be okay. He just had to.

“Anyway, she also took a look at my file, and...Well, I just don’t understand.”

There was a pause.

“It was signed.”

Their sweet boy didn’t sound angry at all, just hurt. Somehow that was even worse.

“I’m sorry. I wish I knew what did. Whatever it was, I’d fix it if I could.”

Another voice cut in.

“Okay, time to go.”

“Wait, just one more thing.” Milo again, sounding worried.  
“I still love you guys.”

The recording ended.

Martin and Bridgette stared at each other, horrified.


	14. Last Resort, Part 1

The bus full of kids pulled in and finally came to a stop. Bradley looked out of the window and anxiously wondered what this was going to feel like. He knew he shouldn’t be scared.

He was raised for this.

No reason to be so nervous.

Milo’s older sister had borrowed a white jacket from someone on the bus. Despite being older than most of the other passengers, she did blend in with the group fairly well.   
  


“So you’re seriously just going to walk in and take him?”

”Not exactly.” Sara whispered back. ”I have a plan that could work, but I need you to help me.”

”Wait- you’re trying to break _into_ a harvest camp to get your unwind brother-”

”He has a name, Bradley.”

”—And all you have is a borrowed jacket and a plan that COULD work?”

”Milo has made it through much worse than this. I can get him back home safely.”

She hoped what she was saying was true. Bradley seemed to be thinking it over, and finally he turned to face her.

”You know what, I guess I’ve got nothing to lose. What exactly do you want to do?”

.. — ... —— —.——

Milo was scared.

He kept on smiling, kept on trying to find a bright side to this whole situation. But anyone who knew him well would have noticed that his smile wasn’t as bright and that his fingers kept rubbing back and forth over the straps of his backpack. He was trying to distract himself, but it wasn’t working.

Dr. Underwood had apologized over and over to him, even though Milo had reassured her that none of this was her fault. As she hugged him and tried to call his parents one last time (the connection was lost almost instantly), it occurred to Milo that she would probably be the one to tell Zack that he wouldn’t get to see his friend again.

_ I’m being unwound_.

Milo nearly bolted for the door, but even from where he was standing he could tell that it was heavily guarded.

_At least I’ll save someone._

That was the best attempt at optimism that he could come up with.

After Dr. Underwood had to leave, Milo felt alone. The nurse standing nearby seemed to mistake his quietness for calmness, because she ruffled his hair and told him he was being brave.

After another minute, she placed a hand on his shoulder.

”Milo, it’s time to go.”

Suddenly there was a barking sound that echoed down the hallway. Milo whirled around and his face broke out into a grin.

”Diogee! How in the world did you get here?”

He picked up the dog and stroked him over and over, smiling from ear to ear.

His happiness faded when his nurse told him dogs weren’t allowed inside and that he had to say goodbye to him now.

”How did he even get in?” asked a very confused guard.

Milo smiled again. “He always knows how to find me. He’s the greatest dog in the world!”

He gave his dog a gentle scratch behind the ears before setting him on the floor. He knelt down next to Diogee, who was giving him the biggest puppy-dog eyes anyone had ever seen.

“Diogee, you’re a good boy.” Milo strokes him again. “You really are the greatest dog in the world. But now there’s something you need to do for me.”

He took a deep breath. “You need to go home. Go to Mom and Dad and Sara. They’ll take good care of you, okay?”

Diogee whined.

”Diogee, go home.”

Looking back at his boy, Diogee pawed at the door until it was opened for him. As the guards held Milo to make sure he didn’t run, he watched Diogee running at top speed, barking loudly.

Despite everything, he couldn’t help smiling a little as he was led down the hallway, and this smile was genuine.  
  
After all,he was lucky enough to have the best dog in the world.

.—— ——— .—. .—.. —..

Melissa was the first one out of the car, but Cavendish told her to get back in the seat.

Despite protests from both Zack and Melissa, Cavendish insisted that it would be safer for them to wait there while he and Dakota retrieved Milo. He turned around and started to head for the entrance, only to hear a quiet _click_ from the backseat.

In the time it took him to turn around, both of the kids were already out of the car. Cavendish sighed, exasperated. Dakota just laughed.

”There’s no stopping you, is there?” he chuckled as his partner glared at him.

At that moment Cavendish realized two things.

Milo was going to need all the help he could get.

And no matter how dangerous this mission was, there was nothing in the world that would stop Milo’s friends from trying to save him.

He wished everyone could be lucky enough to have friends like that.

.— —— —.. .—— . .—. . .— .—.. .—.. .—.. .. ...— .. —— —. ——. .. —— .. —

Bradley whispered to Sara,” Go over the plan one more time.”

”First you distract whoever’s at the desk. Ask questions, ask for a tour, tell her there’s something going on outside, whatever you can come up with. Just keep her busy.”

”Right.”

“I’ll sneak behind the desk and pull Milo’s file. Then when she gets back, I’ll have it hidden under my jacket.”

”If they don’t take it from you.”

Ignoring Bradley’s comment, Sara continued.

”Then we find Milo. He always has a change of clothes in his backpack, so he can just change in the bathroom. When we get back to the desk, then it’s time for Phase 2.”

”Meaning we try to fool everyone here into thinking YOU were sent here instead?”

”Without his file, they can’t prove he was actually sent here.”

”What happens if they use the computer system?”

“Then I open his file and show that there was never any Unwind Order for him.”

”This is crazy.” Bradley protested.

”I know.” Sara replied, “But it just might work.”

——— .—— .—.— .—

The tow truck driver was having an incredibly weird day.

First he was called in for a car that looked like the owners were preparing for the apocalypse. Who carries around oxygen tanks, a spare engine and 3,000 feet of bandages in their car trunk?

Then the couple in the car insisted that they needed to be taken to a weird address out in the country instead of a mechanic. He said no at first, but they offered him an extra $200 to go there instead. The address turned out to be a harvest camp, which raised a lot of questions that he wasn’t sure he even wanted the answers to.

Then he could have sworn that the duck sitting by the side of the road was wearing a hat. (After work, he was definitely getting his eyes checked.) 

When he finally pulled his truck to a stop to let his passengers out, they thanked him enthusiastically and asked him to wait for a few minutes. Martin and Bridgette, as they had introduced themselves, were apparently planning on picking up another passenger.

The driver almost told them to charge their phones and call a taxi, but he kept his mouth shut. After all, it’s not every day you get a $200 tip.

... — .— —.—— .—— .... ——— .—.. .

Milo was staring up at the ceiling— or actually, the new hole where one of the ceiling tiles had suddenly fallen. The staff were muttering about property damage and repair expenses, and the nurse from earlier entered the room to stand next to him.

Milo was strapped to the operating table. He heard one of the doctors reminding the others to use the specially reinforced restraints after the regular ones had broken.

His backpack had been confiscated and would be mailed back to his family. He wondered if his parents were going to miss him.

He still couldn’t really believe that they had signed the order. Something was really wrong here. He was so sure, but when he tried to tell the nurse, she just told him that a lot of the patients go through denial.

At least Diogee would be safe at home.

The nurse was gently stroking his hair, comforting him.

”Please let me go home.”

He was sure that they wouldn’t, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.

”No, we can’t. I’m sorry.” The doctors were checking to make sure the restraints weren’t loose.

”It’s okay, sweetie. It won’t hurt.”

A doctor brought in a syringe, only for it to slip out of her grip and crack on the floor.

”ANOTHER delay?” complained someone at the other end of the room. “We’re already twenty-eight minutes behind schedule!”

Milo clenched his fingers tightly together and then loosened them. He did this over and over, trying to stay calm.

”Milo, everything’s okay. You don’t have to be scared. Your file says you’ve had surgery before, right? Just think of it as another visit to the doctor.”

She’s holding his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You’ll find out everyone’s plans and whether or not they work in the next update.


	15. Last Resort, Part 2

Taking a deep breath, Sara mentally reviewed what needed to happen for her to rescue Milo.

She could do this.

As the group of tithes got off the bus, the hoped that the driver wouldn’t recognize her. What are the odds that the weird crossing guard from her brother’s school would be driving?

She shook her head. It didn’t matter now. She just needed to stick to her plan.

Bradley was still looking at her as if she was insane. She half-expected him to wait until they were inside and then shout,”She’s not supposed to be here!”

Fighting the urge to just turn around and leave, she headed for the entrance.

Sara’s stomach felt strange as she looked around. The place felt almost like a summer camp, but everything was so... clinical. From the nurse wearing scrubs who was heading for a nearby building to the strong smell of disinfectant, everything in this place forced her to remember what would happen to her little brother if this plan didn’t work. 

...———...———...

Dakota popped open the car trunk and quickly shoved most of what was inside into a duffel bag. Taking a deep breath, the group approached the building.

His partner was walking ahead of him, clipboard in hand.  
Cavendish had come up with a smart plan, but there was no way that Dakota was going in without a backup plan.

The kids were following behind the two time travelers, and both of them seemed nervous. Nobody wanted to admit that it was even possible that they were too late. The sound of a barking dog snapped Dakota out of his thoughts. He quickly looked around to see where the barking was coming from. “They have guard dogs here?” asked Zack. “Since when—” “Wait a minute.” interrupted Melissa. “That bark sounds familiar. Here, boy!” A small yellow dog rushed over and jumped up on top her, barking frantically. “Diogee?” Zack bent down to have a look at the little dog. “What are you doing here?” He had never seen a dog look so frantic. ”Hey!” Diogee had pulled Zack’s phone out of his hand and was now pawing at it. Zack picked up his cell phone, which now had quite a bit of dirt and dog slobber on it. As he tried to wipe it off, Melissa suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm towards herself so that she could see it too. “Seriously? What is it with my phone right now?” “Wait a minute.” Melissa was looking at the last message from Zack’s mom, which was a photo of the unwind order. Zack hadn’t locked his phone, so that picture was the first thing to come up on the screen when the phone was on. Melissa’s fists clenched tightly, and Zack was glad that he had freed his wrist from her grip. “That’s not his signature.” 

“Something’s wrong here.”  
Melissa was looking at the image on her friend’s phone.

“I know! I can’t believe they did this to him.” Cavendish sounded irritated, as if nobody should have wasted time stating something that was so obvious.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Mellissa was pointing to the screen. “See that signature? I can’t believe I didn’t notice this sooner. That’s not Mr. Murphy’s handwriting.”

The four people ran for the doors even faster than before.  
...———...———...———...———...———...———...  
Sara was inside. She stood with her back to the wall and pretended to read a brochure as she listened to Bradley, who was alone in the room except for Sara and one staff member who was locking a filing cabinet.

“They said you could give me a tour right away.”  
Bradley was doing his best to get the receptionist(nurse? counselor? staff?) out of the nearby doors.  
“I know the whole group is scheduled to have one later, but since my appointment is so soon I was supposed to have one now.”

Sara tried very hard to look like she wasn’t eavesdropping. The way that Bradley talked about his “appointment” so casually made her skin crawl. Was he really okay with this?

The receptionist seemed to be convinced, because she led the boy outside. Bradley discreetly looked over his shoulder and nodded.

As soon as she was sure that the coast was clear, Sara climbed over the front desk and began to go through all the drawers. Before long she found a paper clip and a hairpin.

She turned to the locks on the drawers and got to work.

After what felt like hours but was really only a few minutes, she forced the filing cabinet labeled L—N open and rooted through the folders as fast as she could.

She gave herself several paper cuts as she shuffled through the files, but she couldn’t have cared less.

Sara read the names at the top of each file, desperate to find the right one. She turned too far and wound up sorting through the N section and was just about to turn back when she noticed a familiar name.

Living with two family members who were affected by Murphy’s Law had trained her in quick reactions. Sara slid the file marked “Nicholson, Bradley” out of the drawer and set it beside her.

After another minute of searching, she finally found what she was looking for.

She was so excited, she didn’t even notice the sound of the door opening.  
...———...———...———...———...  
Milo was in the operating room. The nurse was talking to him, but he could barely hear her over the commotion outside.

Finally a man in scrubs opened the door.  
“We have a... situation near the West corner of the fence. They’re asking for everyone available to go down there.”

Trying to sit up, Milo felt his heart race. This could be his chance to escape!

“What about the patient?” one of the surgeons inquired as he laid a scalpel back on the tray.

“That’s where I come in. I’ll watch him and make sure he doesn’t try anything funny.”

“I don’t know...I still think we should go ahead and get started. This one’s going to be a lot of trouble.”

The figure standing in the doorway shrugged. “What’s he gonna do? I mean, he’s strapped to a table. It’s not like he’s going anywhere.”

“We’re already behind schedule-”

Another voice spoke from the doorway. “You’re going to be even further behind if we don’t take care of the situation before it gets out of hand!”

Footsteps echoed in the room as everyone left. Soon Milo was almost alone. He could hear the two voices as they approached him.

He looked up and grinned. “I thought you guys weren’t going to come!”

Dakota rushed to the operating table and began to undo the straps that held Milo in place. He and Cavendish were dressed in the uniforms that all of the guards wore.

“C’mon, kid. Let’s get you out of here.”

Cavendish rushed into the room followed by Milo’s two best friends.  
Zack helped him off the table and then hugged him. Melissa spotted Milo’s backpack and body armor piled up in the corner. She carried them over to Milo and was surprised at how small he seemed without his usual body armor.

There was barely enough time for Milo to change into his regular clothes and grab his backpack. Whatever the distraction was, it might not last very long.

Dakota dumped everything left in his duffel bag on the floor and pulled out a folded-up object, which turned out to be... a bigger duffel bag. He turned to Milo.  
“Okay, I think we’re going to have to try to sneak you out of here in this. I’m pretty sure you can fit.”

Milo carefully climbed in as Dakota zipped the bag shut. The fabric was fairly sturdy, but thin enough to that Milo could breathe. It was a tight fit and Cavendish had to carry his backpack for him in order to make sure there was enough room, but this could work.

Now was the riskiest part of the plan. If anybody demanded to search the bag, it was all over. What everyone needed now was a little bit of luck.

But luck had never been on Milo’s side.  
..———...———...———...———...  
Bradley couldn’t believe this.

After he managed to keep that lady distracted, two strangely dressed men had approached her with a device that was glowing and green. Within seconds, she was acting crazy.

After some guards came over to investigate, the two lunatics with the machine ran blasted them with the light. The next time Bradley saw them, they were wearing the uniforms. Had they knocked out the guards and stolen their clothes?

Melissa and Zack were now standing in the corner of the fence aiming that device at anyone who tried to come near them. Why were they even here? What was even happening? This was almost as weird as the llama incident.

Elliot had been complaining nonstop ever since he got off of the bus. He had been asked to drive after the usual in driver got sick, but he definitely hadn’t been asked to perform a safety inspection. He was now writing something down on a notepad while muttering angrily.

Where was Sara, anyway? She said that she would only need a few minutes to get that file.  
...———..———...———...  
Cavendish and Dakota were trying to rush back through the crowd. Dakota was carrying the duffel bag and trying very hard not to jostle Milo too much. Cavendish waved at Melissa and Zack, who ran over to him as fast as they could.

“Did you find him?” Melissa asked as she quickened her pace. “I was worried that we might—”

Suddenly her eyes widened and she slumped to the ground. Zack plucked a tranquilizer dart out of her shoulder as fast he could, but she was already unconscious. Groaning, Cavendish picked up the teenager and tried to run faster.

“I thought you wiped the guard’s memories!” Dakota panted as the seams across the bottom of the duffel bag strained under Milo’s weight.

“Well, evidently I didn’t get them all.” Cavendish replied.  
He couldn’t run at top speed while carrying a person, but the group was still close to the building where Sarah was waiting. Dodging a large puddle that had formed after a water main ruptured, his foot caught on the red carpet, causing him to topple over.

The good news was that he managed to prevent Melissa’s head from hitting the ground.

The bad news was that while was trying not to drop her, he had fallen backwards against Dakota, who dropped the bag.

Dakota grabbed one handle of the bag as it fell, only for it to tear off, ripping the seam it was attached to and sending Milo tumbling out.

Most of the staff still seemed to be preoccupied with containing the people who were still acting erratic (thanks to the alien technology that Dakota had dragged out of the car trunk) so an escape still seemed possible. Wincing at the impact, Milo brushed himself off and turned to help the others.

“Milo, no. Head for that door. Your sister is waiting for you.” 

“But-”

Dakota smiled. “Kid, you need to get out of here. Just take your backpack and run for it.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

Melissa stirred, opening her eyes. Apparently Zack had pulled the dart out so fast that not all of the tranquilizer serum had entered her system.  
“We’ll be fine. Now go!”

Looking back over his shoulder, Milo ran for his life. He didn’t want to leave his friends, but they were already catching up to him. He was almost in the clear when a hand suddenly clamped down on his arm.

“YOU!”

Milo recognized that voice before he even had time to look at the person. Elliot glared at the thirteen-year-old.

“You’re not going to just run away from this mess you’ve made! I’m keeping you right here until the guards deal with you.”

Milo struggled to free himself. “I didn’t do anything!”

Immediately after he said that, a shingle slid off of the nearest roof and hit Elliot on the foot.

“Ow!” Elliot glared at the boy.  
“You keep on doing annoying things like THAT! It’s just not safe!”

“Elliot, I can’t help it. It’s Murphy’s Law.”

“IT’S THINGS LIKE THIS THAT MADE ME SIGN YOUR UNWIND ORDER!”

Milo’s eyes widened.

“That was YOU?” growled Cavendish. 

Elliot rolled his eyes. “Danville’s safer now. Besides, it’s not like you can prove it.”

“Wait, they really didn’t?” Bradley and Zack were supporting Melissa, who was awake, but slightly out of it.

“You mean to tell me that you held a grudge against Milo that was so extreme that THIS was what you decided to do? Forge a document?”

Elliot was about to respond, but instead let out a high-pitched shriek. A duck had suddenly swooped it of the sky and crashed into his face. 

“GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!” Elliot screamed as the duck bit him. 

Since Elliot was now using both of his hand to fend off the duck, Milo was now free. The first thing he did was hug his friends as he exclaimed, “Thank you so much! You came!” 

After Milo finally let go of him, Zack turned to Elliot.  
“You tried to get Milo UNWOUND because you didn’t like him?!!”

Elliot spat out a feather. “His parents wouldn’t do it,so this was my last resort. Wait, why are you smiling?”

He was asking Melissa, who looked triumphant as the duck stopped attacking Elliot and flew just close enough to Melissa to drop something into her hands.

Elliot jumped up and ran, trying to get as far away from the duck as possible.

Melissa held up the object, which was a small video camera. She hit PLAY and turned the volume up.

Elliot’s voice rang out loud and clear from the screen.  
“IT’S THINGS LIKE THIS THAT MADE ME SIGN YOUR UNWIND ORDER!”

Sara rushed outside and hugged her brother. “Milo, you’re safe! Come on, let’s get you out of this place.”

———...———...———...———...———...———  
When Milo was back in the entrance building, he was greeted by his parents, the police and several guards. 

“MILO!” Bridgette hugged her son as if he would disappear if she let go.

Martin was next, laughing and crying at the same time as he saw that his son was safe and in one piece. “Neither one of us ever signed that form. We’d never want to get rid of you.” 

“I know you didn’t.“ Melissa stepped forward and handed over a video camera.

Outside the window, a duck with a fedora watched the reunion.  
...———...———...———...———...  
Finally it was time to go home. Sara handed over her brother’s file for a handwriting analysis, which proved that neither of Milo’s parents had ever signed the form. 

“Alright, kid. You’re free to go.” It took a lot of paperwork, but the police had finally confirmed that the order form was invalid. Milo was finally going home.

After the Murphy family left, Dakota noticed that Bradley was trying to slip back outside.  
“Hold it. Where do you think you’re going?”

Bradley crossed his arms. “I’m a tithe. Where did you think I was going?”

Melissa looked exasperated. ”Bradley, we’re not going to just leave you here! You’re coming with us!“

“Actually, no he’s not.” A juvey-cop replied as he used the computer. “You already got the Murphy boy. You can’t take him, too.”

Cavendish threw his hands into the air in frustration. “Well, why on Earth not?”

Dakota leaned over the counter. “”Check his file.”

The police officer typed something into the computer. He never got the chance to reply because he was quickly blasted with the amnesia ray. Cavendish climbed in front of the computer and began typing furiously. 

“There! Now there is no record of Bradley being here.”

Ignoring Bradley’s protests, Melissa and Zack half-led, half-dragged him out of the building and into the car. Just as everyone was buckled in, a team of guards burst out of the building.

“Hey you! Stop!”

“They’re the ones who caused that disaster!”

“About a hundred Unwinds escaped because of them!”

Dakota slammed into the gas pedal and drove away as fast as the car would go.

“Let me out.” Bradley demanded.

Cavendish sighed. “You’re welcome.”

Melissa turned to face her classmate. “Look, do you really want them to unwind you?”

Bradley hesitated.

“That’s what I thought.” Melissa leaned back in her seat.  
“I think I know how to get you back home without your parents getting suspicious.”

A few minutes later, Dakota checked his phone. There was a message from Mr. Block.

“Alright, fine. You two haven’t used time travel for any unauthorized reason, so I’m disabling that tracker. It’s way too expensive to keep it running, anyway. But if you two ever goof around on a mission ever again, YOU’RE BOTH FIRED!”

Almost immediately, the car was surrounded by the stars and clocks of the time stream. Bradley was glued to the window as he watched the colors swirl around the time machine.

“You guys are time travelers?” A million questions were forming inside Bradley’s head. He wanted to stay whole long enough to find out the answers to all of them.

He wanted to stay whole.

An hour ago, he never would have realized how badly he wanted that.

=EPILOGUE=

The Murphy parents were so glad to have both of their kids safe and sound. In their enthusiasm, they had thrown a “Welcome Back” party for Milo. Throughout the entire party, they never let him out of their sight.

Bradley’s parents were currently sitting on the couch next to Milo’s parents as they talked to each other.

“Bradley’s here too.” commented his mother. “It was the strangest thing. A pair of men in uniforms showed up with him on our doorstep and said that the paperwork was invalid.”

Mr. Nicholson nodded. “They also told us that we had to wait at least a year before trying again. Actually, they told us to seriously reconsider if we even wanted to.”

Martin glances over at the corner, where Milo and Amanda were talking about the Free Milo petition. So many people had signed it that the petition had even been featured on the news. Bradley had joined them and the kids were laughing and talking.

Melissa and Zack were retelling the story of Milo’s rescue while simultaneously fixing problems as soon as they started. 

Diogee was asleep in Milo’s lap.

After a few hours, the party started to fade away. Guests were saying goodbye, the cleanup had started and Doofenshmirtz was putting away his confettinator and cakeinator.

Zack and Melissa were the last to leave. After saying goodbye to them, Milo yawned. After everything that had happened today, he was truly exhausted.

Late that night, Bridgette cracked open the door to check on her sleeping son. She affectionately ruffled his hair before laying an extra blanket over him. He looked so peaceful, fast asleep.

Martin came in a minute moment later. He and his wife had been checking on their kids every five minutes since they went to bed. It was good to know that they were still here , perfectly safe.

Diogee was standing guard next to Milo’s bed, ready to protect his boy from anything that might happen next.

As Martin turned off the light, he took one last look at his sleeping son.

Murphy’s Law may throw some serious curve balls, but as long as the family was still together, things had a funny way of working out.


End file.
